DUSHANBE, December 28, 2015, Asia-Plus – Quite a strong earthquake jolted some districts of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) on December 26, at 00:14 am.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake struck at a depth of about 200 kilometers and its epicenter was in Afghanistan’s Ishkashim district, which borders Tajikistan and Pakistan.
In the epicenter, the magnitude was reportedly 6.2 on the Richter scale.
Pakistani officials say at least 30 people were injured in the Friday earthquake. The injuries reportedly occurred in various localities of Peshawar, Pakistan, about 200 miles from the quake epicenter.
Meanwhile, the Geophysical Survey of Tajikistan’s Academy of Sciences reports the quake struck some 305 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe and 39 kilometers of the Ishkashim district in Gorno Badakhshan of Tajikistan. In the epicenter, the magnate was 5.0 and the tremor measuring 4.0 could be felt in Dushanbe, the Geophysical Survey said.
We will recall that a magnitude-7.2 temblor hit some 242 kilometers away in Tajikistan’s Gorno Badakhshan on December 7. The earthquake hit a sparsely populated area at 12:50. The Geophysics Survey of Tajikistan’s Academy of Sciences says the epicenter was 93 kilometers west of the settlement of Murgab, the administrative center of GBAO’s Murgab district, 138 kilometers northeast of Khorog, the capital of Gorno Badakhshan and 357 kilometers southeast of Dushanbe. The Bartang Valley in the Rushan district was the most his area. According to figures from the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of Tajikistan, 1,327 houses were damaged or destroyed and 7,962 people were displaced as of December 11. Critical infrastructure, including roads, medical facilities, hydro-power stations, and schools also incurred damage.
